Matchday 2 saw us playing three games on a sunny but cold day in Lincoln.
Strollers 2 Grimsby Ancient Mariners (Glover) 1
Buoyed by the inclusion of a new keeper, Tony Fisher, the B squad went into this matchday confidently and soon had Grimsby on the back foot. Chances came thick and fast and when Taff Lovesey played a ball through to Colin Barrett-Treen, our striker finished off neatly to put us ahead. Soon afterwards Lovesey again fed a pass behind the Grimsby defence and this time it was latched onto by Frank Smith. It wasn't the purest of strikes but still found its way into the corner of the goal.
The half continued in this fashion and the Strollers played some excellent football but failed to take the chances created. At half time Les Woods and John Phythian replaced Lovesey & Smith which upset the balance of the squad for a short while, allowing Grimsby to gain more possession and eventually the North Lincs side pulled one back. Guided by Tim Marsden and Dave Guest at the back, our lads tweaked the tactics to play slightly more defensive and there were no further scares.
Stollers 1 Gainsborough 0
Another dominant performance and the final score did not reflect how the game flowed. On the positive side the team played some good passing football, but on the negative, we failed to capitalise on the chnaces we created.
This game also saw an injury to Lovesey who limped off with a damaged thigh muscle. Hopefully a pull rather than a tear.
The winning goal was scored when Smith found space on the left and from what looked like an impossible angle, he tucked his shot in between the post and keeper.
Strollers 2 Grimsby Ancient Mariners (Mac) 0
This was another solid team performance by our squad and again we were good value for the win. Well on top for most of this match with Tony Fisher covering any threat posed by the Grimsby lads.
The first goal came when Smith fed a ball to Barrett-Treen who struck a shot that the defence were unable to block and prevent hitting the back of the net.
The second goal came from a good 'run' forward from Dave Guest, one of many on the day, and he finished with a powerful shot.
The game continued with our lads on top and creating more chances, but like the previous game, we were a little wasteful and didn't run these to further goals.
A solid days work from our lads and a hard earned 9 points to lift us up the table.